This week’s good sports and bad sports
February 18th, 2008, 11:36 am · Post a Comment · posted by phayes
I wanted to start a new weekly blog featuring the past sports world’s good sports and bad sports. Asking around the Telegraph newsroom for suggestions, there were plenty of bad sports nominated, but fewer good sports. I guess that’s how most of us in the business are wired - negative pole gets lots of hits, not so much the positive. But I did come up with some good sports - some really good ones.
Here’s my top five in each…
This week’s bad sports:
1. Floyd Irons: This guy seemingly had his own take on cheating while becoming a coaching legend at Vashon. He’s not even apologetic. He admits it and says he’d do it again. His blatant recruiting of the Hill brothers from Alton may have cheated the Redbirds out of a state championship, but even worse, it sends a horrible message.
2. Johnny Hill Sr.: The father of Bobby and Johnny Hill, he got a job through Irons and a Cadillac to drive. He also told his sons it was all OK.
3. The Missouri State High School Activities Association: These folks evidently turned their heads, buried them in the sand and played see-no-evil, hear-no-evil and speak-no-evil. Not wanting to tarnish a coaching legend, they chose to do nothing. This outfit makes me appreciate the Illinois High School Association even more. The IHSA can be frustrating at times, but it’s leap years better than the MSHSAA.
4. Roger Clemens: Deny, deny, deny. Richard Nixon would be proud.
5. Bill Belichick: Cheaters never prosper. Well, maybe sometimes they prosper. What a spoiled brat.
(Honorable Mention: Kelvin Sampson, Indiana basketball coach. Bobby Knight may have ruffled lots of feathers, but he never cheated.)
We stay closer to home for this week’s good sports:
1. Larry Thatcher: The SIU Edwardsville hockey coach wears a lot of hats. He’s also the manager of the East Alton Ice Arena and a board member of the Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association. This past weekend he was also tournament director for the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association tourney at the EAIA. His SIUE team bowed to Mizzou in the semifinals, but Thatcher was gracious in defeat, accomodating to the visiting teams and the tourney went off without a snag. Thatcher’s been through the wringer recently with so much on his plate, but he’s demonstrated plenty of class and showed what being a good sport is all about.
2. Uno: He’s the pooch from Belleville who won Best of Show last week at the Westminster Kennel dog show. He also did not cheat. Good boy.
3. Chris Williams: The first freshman wrestler from Civic Memorial to win a medal at the IHSA State Finals since Kip Kristoff, he showed hard work pays off.
4. Allen Johnson: The ‘72 Calhoun High grad is spearheading an effort to renovate the school’s gymnasium. There’s a long way to go, but his group’s doing it the right way - hard work and fund-raisers.
5. Tony La Russa: Hey, it’s Spring Training time!
That’s my list, how about yours? If you have some other ideas, let me know.
